Chương 21: “Gerald”

Gerald was the size of a large cat and had no face and moved through walls and had been dormant for three hundred years and had, in the two weeks since June named him, developed an attachment to her that Vorrath found both professionally embarrassing and completely understandable. He followed her around the house.

Not visibly, Gerald was a creature of walls and shadows and in-between places, but Vorrath could feel him, the small cold signature of him trailing after June from the kitchen to the stairs to her bedroom, curious and devoted in the uncomplicated way of things that had not yet learned to be complicated about devotion. June knew he was there. She said goodnight to the wall sometimes. Gerald, Vorrath was certain, was thrilled every single time. Tuesday and Speck were less sociable.

Tuesday haunted the garden, which suited everyone. Speck had taken up residence in the gap between the washing machine and the wall, which Vorrath did not sanction but had decided was not worth a confrontation. This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

On Thursday, Lauren opened the cupboard under the sink and something cold moved past her ankle and she went very still and then closed the cupboard very carefully and stood in the kitchen for a moment and then poured herself a large glass of water and went to bed. She did not mention it. Vorrath waited to see if she would. She didn't. He thought about this. She had lived in this house for six years and the cold in the closet had always been there and she had always not mentioned it.

She cut the crusts off June's toast without being asked and she stood outside her door at night and she had not opened the letters on the counter and she did not mention the things she couldn't explain because she had decided, somewhere quiet and private, that the house was safe and whatever was in it meant her daughter no harm. She was right. He sat with the fact that she was right for a long time. System: Bond Strength: 61%. Gerald is thriving. We don't have a metric for Gerald thriving. We're adding one.